The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications and more particularly to an intelligent network provisioning system.
The intelligent network includes a number of intelligent switches (service switching points) that are used to setup voice, data, and wireless connections. The intelligent switches are connected together by carrier lines (wireless or wired/cabled). The intelligent switches are connected to a service control point (SCP) by a network. The SCP provides billing, routing, and other specialized services. An intelligent switch sends a query to the SCP when it is unable to process a call request. For instance, when an intelligent switch receives an xe2x80x9c800xe2x80x9d number call, the intelligent switch has to send a query to the SCP to receive routing information. An xe2x80x9c800xe2x80x9d number can be terminated to any line and is often terminated to different lines depending on the day of the week. The SCP matches the xe2x80x9c800xe2x80x9d number to the correct destination number and sends a response back to the intelligent switch to route the call to the correct destination.
All these features have to be programmed into the intelligent network. Presently a mainframe computer program is used to program the intelligent network. The mainframe computer environment is inflexible, difficult to maintain and expensive to operate.
Thus there exists a need for an intelligent network provisioning system that is flexible, easy to maintain and inexpensive to operate.
An intelligent network provisioning system that overcomes these and other problems has a client platform with a user interface for order entry. A server platform is connected to the client platform by a network. The server platform is capable of sending a query to a calling card provisioning system. An application server upon receiving an order from the server platform downloads the order to the intelligent network and transmits a state change message to the server platform.
The intelligent network provisioning system is based on a client server architecture with a graphical user interface. This makes the system flexible, easy to maintain and operate and less expensive to operate.